underbelly-project

It’s “an elusive pirate treasure of contemporary art” – an abandoned subway chamber under Manhattan that was illegally opened for a year starting in 2009 to allow 103 select artists to paint for one night each. Then it was sealed off from the world, the original entrance to the station removed. The Underbelly Project is a mysterious urban art experiment that seeks to subvert the commercialism that has overtaken much of the street art scene. Contributors include RJ, Editor-in-Chief of Vandalog, who has captured some of these creations on film (such as the one above and the second-to-last image below).
35 of the 103 artists from The Underbelly Project will be exhibiting art in The Underbelly Show, plus video and still footage of the artists at work in the tunnel. Here’s the full line-up: Faile, Dabs & Myla, TrustoCorp, Aiko, Rone, Revok, Ron English, Jeff Soto, Mark Jenkins, Anthony Lister, Logan Hicks, Lucy McLauchlan, M-City, Kid Zoom, Haze, Saber, Meggs, Jim & Tina Darling, The London Police, Sheone, Skewville, Jeff Stark, Jordan Seiler, Jason Eppink and I AM, Dan Witz, Specter, Ripo, MoMo, Remi/Rough, Stormie Mills, Swoon, Know Hope, Skullphone, L’Atlas, Roa, Surge, Gaia, Michael De Feo, Joe Iurato, Love Me, Adam 5100, and Chris Stain.

For this show, the space will be transformed into an environment imitating the tunnel where The Underbelly Project took place, right down to playing sounds recorded in the station while The Underbelly Project was happening.

Here are some more photos from down in the tunnel: